U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday that no military response is necessary to Russia's threats to re-target Europe if Washington continues with its defense missile plan in Eastern Europe.

"Russia is not an enemy," Bush told reporters before the summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations in the northern German resort of Heiligendamm.

"There needs to be no military response because we're not at war with Russia. Russia is not a threat. Nor is the missile defense we're proposing a threat to Russia," he said.

Putin has yet to arrive in Germany for the three-day G8 summit which is expected to focus on climate change, Africa development and the Doha Round talks of the World Trade Organization.

The G8 club groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Editor: Wing